“Not under it. In it.” I lean forward. “This one astronaut candidate, she went to Annapolis, and part of why NASA dug her is because she’d proven she could thrive in an environment hostile to life—the ocean—by being one of the first female officers on a submarine. Plus, astronauts train in the ocean all the time because it mimics the microgravity climate of space. NASA has an undersea habitat on the bottom of the Atlantic called Aquarius—it’s a whole sim for living on the ISS or doing space walks. Instead of wearing a space suit, you wear diving equipment.”

“Mae, that is fucking terrifying.”

I grin. “Or effing awesome.”

“Poor Ben. Usually it’s the dudes who become sailors and go to sea for months at a time.”

“He knows who wears the oxygen tank in this relationship,” I say.

Nah laughs, but then the sound dies on her lips. Her face goes pale.

“They’re here,” she whispers.

I follow her gaze. Rebecca Chen is standing a few feet away, hands gripping the bar of a stroller.

The three of us stare at each other.

There is hope in her eyes. I see the fantasy play out: connecting with the daughters of the man she loved. Being “there” for them.

I wonder, briefly, if there is a multiverse in which Rebecca and Dad are together, and she is making him very happy and he is getting to know his new daughter. And I wonder, briefly, if I could be okay with that. With them being together, a different family, one that is not ours. Would she make Italian wedding soup for him?

And I also wonder, briefly, if there is a multiverse in which Mom is happy, too.

Dad thought the multiverse theory was bunk.

This universe will have to do.

“I can’t talk to her,” Nah whispers. “Oh my God, I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“To Pearl?”

“Rebecca.”

“It’s okay. I’ll take over command.”

I cross to Rebecca. She tries to smile. I do not.

I still can’t see Pearl. The stroller shade is up. Just as well. I don’t want her to be traumatized by this conversation.

“My sister’s boyfriend, Micah. They were together for over three years,” I say.

She nods, confusion crossing her face. “Yes. I—”

“After our parents died, he cheated on her. That’s part of why Hannah’s staying by the table over there.”

Rebecca turns very, very pale.

“I can’t imagine we’ll ever be friends,” I say. “Not because you loved our dad. He was easy to love. But because neither of you factored my mom or my sister or me into your equation.”